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Hulu ends free tier, moves model to Yahoo View

If you aren’t a Hulu subscriber, but still use the service regularly, then you will want to bookmark Yahoo!’s newest video portal. Yahoo recently announced the launch of Yahoo View, a new TV-watching site where you can watch episodes of your favorite TV shows and go beyond the episode with clips and recaps. This will move Hulu’s free content to Yahoo View, while subscribers will remain at Hulu. It’s not an entirely surprising move, as sites like Netflix has seen terrific results by offering a subscription-only model, all while major TV networks are still battling the changing market with free, ad-supported content themselves.

Yahoo View will be an extension of Yahoo’s long-standing distribution partnership with Hulu, the service will offer thousands of TV, anime, Korean drama and movies including full episodes, films, and clips for free.

In a statement today Yahoo talked about the launch of the new service saying, “This further emphasizes Yahoo’s commitment to create an experience for people to consume content they care about while being able to connect with a community of like-minded fans.”

Featuring content from Hulu, this Fall, Yahoo View will be the newest place to watch the last five episodes of ABC, NBC, FOX (8 days after original broadcast) and other network sitcoms, day-after clips, and full seasons of anime and Korean drama. Viewers can also go beyond the episode in a community-watching experience and browse photos and GIFs from the Tumblr fandom, which is also owned by Yahoo. The new site features a “beyond the episode” section that can visually block the enhanced content that might reveal spoilers about the current video playing, and picture-in-picture so viewers can continue to watch while browsing to other content without leaving the screen.

“As a TV junkie and Tumblr fan myself, I’m personally excited to have one place that brings together the best of free TV and Tumblr fandom,” said Jess Lee, Vice President of Lifestyles Product at Yahoo. “Yahoo View is our first step towards creating a powerful community TV-watching experience, but it’s really only the beginning.”

“Video is an important part of Yahoo’s strategy and we’re committed to delivering the best digital video content to our users. To date, we’ve streamed amazing experiences across sports, finance, and news,” said Phil Lynch, Vice President and Head of Media Partnerships. “This partnership with Hulu is a natural extension of that strategy, bringing the best of TV & entertainment content to our lifestyle vertical.”